Al Gore sues Al Jazeera over Current sale

FILE - This Aug. 20, 2013 file photo shows Al-Jazeera America editorial newsroom staff preparing for their first broadcast in New York. Al-Jazeera America marks its first anniversary on the air next week. The news network has recorded some startlingly low ratings and recently shown signs of retrenchment with layoffs and by cutting some live newscasts. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) ORG XMIT: NYET101(Photo: Bebeto Matthews AP)

Al Jazeera, the pan-Arab TV news network controlled by the Qatari royal family, confirmed Friday it's been sued by former Vice President Al Gore and other shareholders over a financial dispute stemming from the sale of the defunct cable news network Current TV.

Al Jazeera agreed to pay about $500 million to buy Current last year, stripped it of its content and relaunched it as Al Jazeera America, its news arm that focuses on the U.S.

"Al Jazeera America wants to give itself a discount on the purchase price that was agreed to nearly two years ago," David Boies, the attorney who represents Gore, said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg News. "We are asking the court to order Al Jazeera America to stop wrongfully withholding the escrow funds that belong to Current's former shareholders."

Al Jazeera said its lawyers are reviewing the complaint. "We think it relates to a commercial dispute between former shareholders of Current Media and Al Jazeera America. We may have further comment once they've fully reviewed everything."

Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt launched Current in 2005 to compete with other cable news networks and eventually grew it to reach about 60 million homes. Struggling financially, their company scrapped plans for an initial public offering of shares and reshuffled top management before eventually selling the network to Al Jazeera.

Comcast also had a less than 10% stake in the network prior to the sale, according to The Associated Press.